A chronicle of the part a small resort town on the south coast of England played in the story of the greatest rock 'n' roll group the world has ever known

Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth

Click on the cover for information about the book. Available to order now.

26 September 2011

Echo magazine feature

Saturday's Daily Echo Magazine carried a two-page cover story by features writer Pat Gough about Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth, complete with a selection of Harry Taylor's photos. In case you missed it, here's the text...

BEATLEMANIA
is set to return with the release of a new book that charts the Fab Four in
Bournemouth.

Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth by author Nick Churchill offers a
complete account of The Beatles’ connections to the town.

It turns
out that Bournemouth was closely involved in the infancy of The Beatles. Yes,
you did read that correctly.

While
Liverpool was where the fledgling Fab Four played early gigs under such names
as The Quarrymen and The Silver Beetles, The Beatles played the Bournemouth Gaumont
more often Bournemouth than any other UK theatre outside

London,
even though Bournemouth seems as far from the group’s north-west origins as The
Frog Chorus is from Twist and Shout.

Yet while
Dorset can lay little claim to spawning the world’s biggest pop group, the
region hosted some crucial – and less-than-crucial, though interesting –
episodes as the Beatle legend unfolded here, there and everywhere.

Just ask
former Bournemouth Daily Echo journalist Nick Churchill who has unearthed
stories of Bournemouth Beatles lore and eyewitness accounts before they
disappeared forever.

“Most
people’s reactions were that they didn’t know there were any strong
connections. There’s nothing in the town to mark the association with The
Beatles, let alone that Beatlemania ever happened here,” says Nick.

The Beatles
played four Bournemouth engagements in the early 1960s. The first, at the
Gaumont, involved two shows a night for six days back in August 1963.

“They were
already big stars in the UK at this point, with recent single From Me To You at the top of the charts.
As for Beatlemania, there was a bit of screaming, but it was all quite
sweet-natured,” says Nick.

“The
audience was mainly teenagers, but there are reports of curious holidaymakers
wandering in and buying tickets,” he added.

While on
their first jaunt to Bournemouth, The Beatles had time to shoot the artwork for
their second album, With The Beatles.

The sleeve
featured Robert Freeman’s iconic half-shadow photos taken in the restaurant at
the Palace Court Hotel in Westover Road during the Beatles’ week-long summer
residency at the Gaumont.

“Also at the Palace Court, George
Harrison penned Don’t Bother Me, his
first Beatles song, while confined to his room with a nasty cold.

“In a letter written to a fan at the
time, Harrison expressed his views on the screaming: ‘We don’t mind girls
screaming in the noisy numbers, but I think we would prefer them to be a little
quieter in the slow songs’.”

As for the
actual shows, The Beatles headlined a bill that included Billy J Kramer and The
Dakotas, Tommy Quickly, Gary and Lee, The Sons of Piltdown Men, compere Billy
Baxter and light entertainers the Glamorous Lanas and Tommy Wallis & Beryl.

Luckily,
the chief technician at the Gaumont recorded one of the Bournemouth shows for
his own personal use.

This tape,
bought by Apple in 1998, is thought to be the only high-quality concert
recording from the period and has never seen the light of day.

The Beatles
second appearance, at the Winter Gardens on November 16, created media interest
from around the world. American film crews from CBS, NBC and ABC were all
present to capture the action.

“The audiences were far wilder than
those at the Gaumont, all but drowning out the group who had been driven to the
Winter Gardens in an unmarked police van. One Beatle fan was so hysterical that
she had to be treated in hospital.”

Six months
later the Fab Four were back at the Gaumont on August 2, 1964. By this point,
Beatle fever had started to spread across the globe with A Hard Day’s Night in cinemas and a full US tour in the offing.

The final
show, at The Gaumont again, on October 30, 1964, marked the final

Bournemouth
appearance by the Moptops.

“The final shows were part of a UK
tour that saw them champion the music of black America that had influenced
their songwriting from the earliest days. Support act Mary Wells was the first
Motown act to perform in the UK.”

No sooner
had The Beatles said hello, than it was goodbye to Bournemouth and the last
they ever saw of the legendary group.

Although
individual band members continued to frequent the seaside town as Nick
Churchill explains.

“Lennon bought a seafront bungalow
home at Sandbanks in 1965 for his beloved Aunt Mimi, who brought him up
following the death of his mother.

“The Beatle famously phoned her every
day and made regular visits to Dorset to visit her.

“Paul returned to Bournemouth in the
70s with his band Wings and of course Ringo continues to visit and was here at
the BIC this year.”

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About Me

The book Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth continues to spark interest from around the world. A chronicle of the connections between a genteel south coast resort and the greatest rock 'n' roll group of them all, the publication of the book has prompted a wealth of new stories to come to light, many of which are featured in this blog, as is a series of photos, audio and video clips relating to The Beatles and the part Bournemouth has played in their legend.
if you have memories or anecdotes about The Beatles in Bournemouth please share, don't be shy.
JAN 2017 - HOPE TO BE ABLE TO SHARE SOME EXCITING NEWS WITH YOU SOON!
The book is available from www.natulapublications.co.uk